GG At Home: Beer Can Chicken

This recipe is apparently an oldie but goodie, a staple of tailgate parties and backyard BBQs for many years. Chris’ boyfriend Mathew and I have both wanted to try this for some time, so last Sunday we decided to give it a go.

Chris lives in South Park Slope near a somewhat questionable Associated grocery store – we were initially unsure we would find all the ingredients (including the chicken) there, but they came through in the clutch. Beer can chicken is laughably easy to make – basically smother a chicken in spices and a little olive oil and shove a half-empty can of beer up its ass. I think the secret is to use really crappy foreign beer (Mathew also got fancy and tucked whole stems of rosemary and thyme into the cans before we violated the chickens with them).

The upended chickens went on the grill and all seemed fine until I noticed an alarming amount of smoke wafting over the balcony and filling the apartment. I lifted the grill lid and found the chickens to be basically on fire. “Um, Jason,” I called nervously into the kitchen, “these aren’t supposed to be engulfed like this, are they?” We determined that it was just the fat from the chicken skin providing fuel for the briquettes and, sure enough, the birds eventually got drippy enough to douse most of the flames and provide beautiful smoking action on the plump carcasses.

When the wing bones moved easily, we decided they were done, and transferred them to a Pyrex platter, where Jason took over carving duties. We have a time-honored tradition among my happy foodie band of cooking and then demolishing an entire Perdue roaster in one sitting. All I can say in this case is it was a damn good thing we’d made two, or someone would have lost a finger.

Whoa. Who knew that beer plus steam plus smoke plus herbs could do THAT? This was hands down the most delicious chicken I’ve ever had the pleasure of tucking into. The skin had melted into that sticky glazed consistency that you find on barbecued ribs, tasting sweetly of smoke and not at all charred. The meat itself was falling off the bones and unbelievably tender – it was as though the bird had morphed into some other fantastic, exotically flavored beast that bore no resemblance to its humble earlier incarnation. We ate ourselves silly, complementing our de-feathered friend with braised green beans with garlic and tomato, and potato wedges with chunks of bacon and rosemary. Damn, that shiz was good. I’d make that in the dead of winter (or make Chris do it, a la Bill Cosby in his parka).

You can make beer can chicken in the oven too, but I recommend doing it on a grill if at all possible – there’s something about the combo of the steam and smoke that’s impossible to duplicate, flavor-wise. For the uninitiated, here’s a how-to video: